We hope this email finds you well and coping with home schooling, social distancing and an early spring bout of snow.

We want to share with you some more information on how you can be part of the community of innovative people trying to help put their talents, skills and resources to use as part of the solution.

You can put your spare computer resources to use to help researchers find treatments that can have an impact on how COVID-19 impacts people. For many years a dedicated team of researchers have been running a massive distributed computing project to simulate protein folding to find cures and therapies for a diseases such as Alzheimers and Cancer . They have recently prioritized their efforts on finding solutions to COVID-19. The point is to generate the data necessary to discover treatments that can have an impact on how this virus affects humanity. The Folding@home software allows you to share your unused computer power with them, so they can research cures and treatments for COVID-19. While you are working from home, why not put your office computer or unused server or part of your home computer to work.

The Claremont MakerSpace has dedicated all of our spare computer resources to this task, and we encourage you to do so too. If you want to join our team, we’re team #247608

Hackaday has two detailed articles explaining the project and how to download, install and configure on your computer. Remember, if you want to join the Claremont MakerSpace Folding@home team, we’re team #247608.

Join the new Claremont MakerSpace Community Forums. We’re hoping that this can be a resource for local makers to coordinate efforts, share ideas, inspiration and projects for groups and organizations that need help. You can create an account on the new CMS Community Forums using your google account, or Facebook.

Claremont MakerSpace Members should select “with LDAP” when you create an account, and then use your the same username and password that you use for Claremont MakerSpace network computing account (your username will be your.name. If you need to reset your CMS network computing password, you can do so at https://claremontmakerspace.org/membersonly/#myaccount)

Follow us on Facebook. We’ve been posting information on projects and ideas that other MakerSpaces are working on and information on projects you can undertake right now and make a difference. We’re also posting regular updates on designs and requests from the medical community on what they need, and how they would prefer they are designed and delivered.

Plan C From Maker Space From Make: – Learn how a grassroots uprising of makers, engineers and others are creating a backup plan for the backup plan for COVID-19. This is about the people and projects of Plan C from Maker Space.

Mighty Small is a NH initiative to connect people with downtown businesses that are offering unique and inventive ways to access goods and services. The site includes a Resource and Adaptation Guide strategies to help businesses navigate the current crisis.

Makers, In this difficult time you can put your skills, time and energy to use helping the community get through this.

Sew Face Masks: Supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers are being seriously strained. As the COVID-19 case count increases, this will become an ever increasing problem. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is asking for donations of home made fabric face masks. You can help right now by donating your time and skills. More information is available here on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock website.

Digital Fabricators (3D printers, CNC plasma torch operators, CNC router operators): There’s a need for 3D printed parts including ventilator valves and reusable face masks as well as other fabricated parts. We are still investigating what specifically hospitals in the region are asking for or will be asking for in the near future and what the best design solutions are. In the meantime, if you are interested in helping, please contact ryan@claremontmakerspace.org who has offered to help coordinate this effort.

Additional Maker resources coming soon:The Claremont MakerSpace will be setting up a website where members of the community can share ideas, designs, materials and support. Look for information on that shortly.

Thank you for donating your skills and your time to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health! Due to COVID-19 one of our greatest needs is to increase our supply of Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”). According to the CDC, volunteers can help increase our supply of PPE by making fabric face masks, which are usable in a crisis response when necessary.

Read First: Infection Prevention

Please answer these questions for yourself:

EXPOSURE: “Have you been in contact with anyone suspected or confirmed to have COVID-19 in the past 14 days?”

SYMPTOMS: “Do you have fever, cough, or shortness of breath?”

If “no” to EXPOSURE and SYMPTOMS, then proceed with making masks.

If “yes” to EXPOSURE and/or “yes” to SYMPTOMS, please do not make any masks. If you are experiencing cough, fever or shortness of breath and have concern that this might be COVID-19, please call your primary care provider for a risk assessment. If you do not have a primary care provider, please call the state at: NH: 2-1-1, VT: 802-863-7240.

Practice good hand hygiene when making your masks! Wash your hands whenever you start and end a sewing session. In addition, we will wash all masks when they arrive at our facility.

Guidelines for Making Face Masks

Materials:

100% unused cotton fabric (front) – no metallic fabrics

100% cotton or cotton flannel (back)

¼” or 3/8” flat elastic

You may provide your own fabric or pick up a kit with all needed materials (except thread) from us. Please see: “Connect with Us” below.

How to Make a Face Mask

A video and instructions for making the masks can be found at this website (thank you to the Turban Project and Deaconess Health System). We strongly recommend watching the very helpful video from Deaconess. For your convenience, we’ve listed the instructions here as well.

(Note: the instructions list two sizes, Adult and Child. We would recommend making adult-sized masks primarily. If possible, making a few larger Adult masks would be helpful as well, simply by adding an inch to the cut fabric.)

Pin 3 tucks on each side of the mask. Make sure the tucks are in the same direction.

Sew around the edge of the mask twice.

Connect with Us

Once your masks are made, you may drop them off in bulk in resealable plastic bags at our donation center located at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Service Center, Green Warehouse, 50 LaBombard Road North, Lebanon, NH. Drop-off items will be accepted 7:00am to 3:30pm, Monday through Friday, and 9:00am to 2:30pm, Saturday and Sunday.

If you would like a kit, please call ahead for availability to the donation center hotline at 603-650-4217. This number is open M-F 7 AM to 3:30 PM.

Thank you again for your generosity. If you have any questions, please contact Kristin Roth at kristin.a.roth@hitchcock.org.

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish our community well during these tough times. With the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic already adversely affecting many people in our region, we’d like to use our platform to share information on resources available locally.

Small Business Loans Available

Based on the request of Governor Sununu, the SBA has declared a disaster declaration for the entire state of New Hampshire based on economic injury due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

All the details including the joint press release, the loan application process, assistance for government contractors, and other resources can be found on our website here.

Small businesses looking for assistance should reach out to one of our partners for help with things such as filling out paperwork, questions or even advice. Our partners include SCORE, NH Small Business Development Center, and the Center for Women & Enterprise (NH’s Women Business Center and Veterans Business Outreach Center). You will find links to each of these partners on our website at www.sba.gov/nh under “From our office”.

As you’re aware, this is a very rapidly developing situation. To keep up to date on all activities effecting NH small businesses, please join our mailing list click here.

All providers of electric, gas, water, telephone, cable, VOIP, internet service, and deliverable fuel services will be prohibited from disconnecting or discontinuing service for non-payments for the duration of the State of Emergency.

Landlords will not be allowed to start eviction proceedings for those unable to pay due to their financial situations. To do so would be against the law. All judicial and non-judicial foreclosure actions will also be prohibited during the state of emergency.

Individuals who are unable to work or who have reduced hours due to the COVID-19 pandemic will have immediate access to unemployment benefits. Anyone in the following situations will now be eligible for state unemployment:

If your employer temporarily closes due to COVID-19; Individuals that need to self-quarantine or are directed to quarantine at the instruction of a health care provider, employer or government official; Individuals that need to care for a family member that has COVID-19 or is under quarantine; Individuals that need to care for a dependent because of school closures, child care facility closures or other similar types of care programs; Self-employed individuals that are temporarily unable to operate their business because of any of the above listed situations will also be eligible.

Individuals will need to file for each week of temporary unemployment and all of this can and should be done online or by calling. People can do all of this online from their home internet connection or their phone without ever having to go into a state office. The website to access is www.nhes.nh.gov and the phone number to call is 603-271-7700.